SINGAPORE: Fears of the first case of Ebola surfacing in Singapore on Thursday (Aug 14) proved unfounded.
The Health Ministry issued the following statement: 'The Ministry of Health (MOH) wishes to clarify that there is no suspect case of Ebola in Singapore at present. The case in question was indeed referred to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, but she does not fit the case definition. MOH will continue to closely monitor the situation, and continually assess and calibrate its measures.'
The scare began when a Nigerian woman was apparently transferred from Gleneagles Hospital to Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH)'s Communicable Diseases Centre on Thursday, suffering from a high fever.
At 3.45pm, the Straits Times sent a tweet saying that Singapore 'may have its first suspected case of Ebola'. The tweet linked to a story which said that the woman, in her 50s, 'was identified as a possible Ebola case by doctors at Gleneages on Thursday morning'.
However, at 4.27pm, the Straits Times sent another tweet citing TTSH as saying that she 'does not have Ebola as first feared'. The newspaper's original tweet and story have since been deleted.
TTSH Chief Executive Officer Philip Choo was quoted by the Straits Times as saying: 'We saw a patient with a history from Nigeria, (but her detailed history revealed) no contact with any suspect or confirmed patients.'
The patient has already been discharged, he added.
The death toll in the worst epidemic of Ebola since its discovery four decades ago climbed to 1,069 on Wednesday, according to the World Health Organisation. Nearly 2,000 have now been infected.
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